Health Care's New Math: Fixed Sum for Workers

9/3/2013 4:11PM

This fall, tens of thousands of workers will learn that they’re getting their health benefits in a new way: Their employers will give them a fixed sum of money and let them choose their plan from an online marketplace. WSJ's Stefanie Ilgenfritz joins the News Hub. Photo: AP.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the ... New Saab I'm Wendy downs this fall tens of thousands of U S workers will get the health care benefits in a radically new way ... companies who get the pics sum of money and I and she was the plan from an online marketplace to describe how it all will work it's the it's a health care Chief ... Stephanie often that a thank you for being here so which is to set this up ... right off the dancing this is very different from the government operated marketplace ... that will come into play with the new U S health care law ... how does this work exactly you needed and it is important to him to make that distinction these that call private exchanges the people will hear that term but it is very different from the exchanges that are set up under the health by the state ... and ... and you know when this worse is that that your employer will give you a set sum of money in it might ... be more if you have a family to ensure ... less if you're an individual ... and you can take that money to his private exchange ... and are run by a third party it consulting firm and choose from usually you can choose from a range of subjects the of of insurance policies ... and if you choose one that cost more than the amount that you can ... be given by tearing player then you would pay the difference and if you choose like this lets you keep the money ... some players are saying they will do that at least have some incentive in a key part of that but not everybody's doing the same way interesting so in a sense of are you choosing from different health care providers like companies like ... you might choose one of the divine plan for Atlanta might be a plan from U S health care how we're right where ... I and and that will vary to some will have more toys than others there are some ... setups where it actually come one in the exchanges in the just a mechanism for getting into the one policy that you're being offered but most of them ... will be offering people a range of different policies ... on from Japan Insurers or from four different policies of lipid levels of coverage and buy the thing is for us to people trying to understand how this impacts and what's really at the end of the day Tiffany we already start choose from different plans in many cases I like Mike says one plant that is much broader Robert termites is one of its less coverage ... under its existing health care provider like to say and not play in this case then there are differences you get the money in your scientists can you find the plan and the money they could even sense right through this marketplace not get it you can just go and buy any policy ... it's what is offered to you through the exchange to the private exchange how could this be better for me that it's better for you ... well the idea is ultimately hoping that it would save costs in some of the employers that instead of doing this a that's not the main reason that they're doing and what that that it had guess what the effect of actually reducing costs in a very happy about it says the cost of a company in an unsolicited call I mean because the premiums go up every year with my pile of money get bigger every year is premiums go up that that to one of the main questions and I the policies of fall on average had been going up and played by the posse is about four percent or so we hear ... on and of the different exchanges over forty different levels of increase that employers are offering BT or two percent to five percent some are offering more ... and include officials were working out this is still quite knew ... how much they're going to increase the beach here and and these being both small and medium size and big size employers for some of the names that are doing it's it's a race last year the first two big players that Darden restaurants and Cedars started doing at those are very large and players ... this year were seeing more midsize and smaller players doing and a couple of bigger ones as well ... it's still fairly new but the companies that won extended embedding that is going to the increased interest in us going forward that could be a picture of the way we shop